Floating Shelves: the challenge of building the L shaped frame.

First things first. I am still trying to get over my Alma Mater , Syracuse University, losing to Michigan in a final four game! Soooo close, which of course only counts for nothing! I am not a huge basketball fan except when it comes to March madness. One cannot possibly live in the south and not be caught up in it, especially now that Syracuse will join the ACC. My late husband was a Duke Blue Devil, and it would have been fun, or maybe not, at game time SU vs Duke! He loved those Dukies. OK, back to shelving.

Once I had decided on floating shelves, the dimensions, and placement, the next challenge was how to build them to be sturdy enough to support considerable weight, and wrap around the corner without any connection to the adjoining upper cherry cabinet, so if they needed to be removed there would be no holes in, or damage to the cabinet.

KBJ has finished drawings and measurements and is gathering tools together, after pondering some decisions. You can see to the right of his head, leftover stores of wood we often can use in smaller projects.

All ready to go!

He built the first and third shelves first. For the frame he use some deck rails that were left from building the house years ago. They were dry, hard and straight.

For any shelf project it is wise to check and recheck level.

This is how he solved the “do not connect directly to the upper cabinet/ He extended the one piece out to meet the front of the cabinet, and using a shiplap joint, was able to provide additional support for the L part of the shelf. The piece against the cabinet is loose, is part of the shelf frame, and will he held in place after the shelf is slid into place. Photos below will show detail as to how it works.

Closeup of the shiplap joint

This shows the left support, which was also connected to the back piece on the wall with a shiplap joint.

The back support was screwed into the wall studs using lag screws and flat washers. Do not forget to use the washers!

Notice the screw in the lap-joint which adds additional support.

The trim piece against the cabinet has a 45 degree miter at the front, where the shelf, when slid on will join into it holding it into place because of the way KBJ trimmed it top and bottom. Notice also that he lag screwed the support frame into a stud on this side as well.

I am holding a piece of 1/4 birch plywood to illustrate how the shelf will look when it slides onto the frame.

Here the same piece held to the front along with the matching mitered side trim of the shelf.

Tomorrow, the shelves, and then a reveal! Thank you for stopping by. cheers, charisse